Right Hand Man
by Kaytee Kudo
Summary: Light is a genius, but boredom causes him to become a delinquent, heart broken teenager, recently shot down by his 20th girl, and now wreaks havoc in the campus. His life changes when he the ends up one morning having a guy for a right hand…literally.
1. Friends with my right hand

**Right Hand Man**

**By:** Kaytee Kudo

**Category**: Death Note (but it's inspired by Midori no Hibi)

**Genre:** Humor, Crack, very subtle hints of LightxL

**Rating:** T

**Summary: **Light is a genius, but boredom causes him to become a delinquent, heart broken teenager, recently shot down by his 20th girl, and now wreaks havoc in the campus. Due to a curse by one of his schoolmates, he ends up one morning having a guy for a right hand…literally.

**Other Notes:** Midori no Hibi inspired; AU (definitely); a little bit of shounen-ai, LxLight mostly, but it won't be that explicit, only the sweet stuff. I tweaked up L's character here because like the shy Midori becoming an outgoing, expressive right hand, L must follow suit and get with the story, the same with Raito becoming a delinquent. Besides, it would be too predictable if he stays like that. Beware of OOCness. You have been warned.

**Disclaimer:** Death note's ownership, I do not have

A/N: (For people who are not familiar with Midori no Hibi) Majority of the people who read this, I guess is not familiar with the series, Midori no Hibi, and I guess it would really be hard to imagine how a person would be stuck on another person's right hand without reading the series beforehand (I've been puzzled too, when I first read it), and seeing that ffnet does not allow pictures at all, I could not easily give a pic that would have cleared all questions. Googling it would probably be the best way to understand what's going on (it's also called Midori Days). Basically, L is stuck in Raito's right hand, like a puppet. I hope this helps

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Friends with my right hand**

Sports, student council, club activities, there are a lot of things a student can do to make high school life memorable, but Raito does not care for any of that. For him, a girlfriend is all he needs to make his high school perfect.

That was probably how he got stuck in this problem in the first place.

Yagami Raito was just a normal teenage boy back then, or at least normal in most respects. He attends a private school because his father told him to, but he never studies too much, and although he gets the best grades in class, his teachers could never get any fond of him, the reason for this is that, over the seventeen years of his life, he has made himself a very infamous delinquent.

It was not as if he became a delinquent overnight, it was probably due to a long chain of events that he never had control with, but in the end, it was his own choice that made him so, that he became known to all people as the 'mad dog Yagami' with a devil's right hand. He even had his decent group of minions following his every beck and call.

Crying children whimper quietly with just his glare, and even policemen can't touch him, thanks to his father's reputation. Everyone is scared of him, and he appears to hate the world in return, which was not basically a problem at first.

The fact was, he, like every other teenage boy his age, want pretty much the same thing: a girlfriend, and he could easily blame his notorious reputation for not getting him closer to any of them, even if he wanted it so badly. He tried and failed numerous times too, but he couldn't seem to change the image he had gained over the years. It was a known fact that wherever he goes, his minions were sure to follow, such as this time, when he currently got shot down by another girl he was courting.

"Good morning, Yagami-san!", shouted an over-eager follower, fidgeting a little as the young gang leader looked at him lazily. Raito sighed. It was easy to read his minion's face sometimes, and he could swear that they almost always lead him into trouble anyways, which might had also been the reason why girls avoid him like the plague. Just now, he can easily read the 'We need your help in beating up guys from X-high' face. He just couldn't seem to get rid of these guys.

"What?", he snapped back, and all at once he sensed the distinct fear from his subordinate, though he managed to suck it up just in time, asking for the favor.

That was how Raito's day usually was, anyway. Trying to go to school was just a waste. He figured that he couldn't concentrate on anything, anyway, with the recent break up, and he could definitely use someone to put his anger on, so in just minutes, he already found himself skipping school, and beating up twenty or so gang members with just his right hand.

"Pft," he said spitefully. "This was supposed to be the strongest guy in the east side?"

"Thanks a lot!", one of his minions piped. "When you're with us, we're invincible!"

"Hmph", he said cockily. "If you got beaten up by these guys, then you still have a long way to go, but I've already got revenge for you."

He dusted his uniform as he walked away.

"Next time, make sure it's worth my time. It's no fun beating up weaklings", he said in a cool voice.

"Thank you very much sir!", his minions shouted in unison as they bowed in respect. It was a good thing that Raito had been already a few meters away too, else his eardrums might have gotten really damaged from all the eagerness. Apparently, he would be ditching school again this time.

This was the usual scene that happens on Yagami Raito's life. He gets dumped, by some girl who would nervously tell some lame ass excuse on why she couldn't go out with him, he would be in a daze for being heart broken for the umpteenth time, which would make him vulnerable to his minions on asking him to beat up some gang that apparently beat them up a while ago, he would beat up said gang's every member in just an easy strike, and walk away, not intending to go to school anymore. It was boring, and he was sick of it, if truth be told. He was hoping that having a girlfriend would change this boring turn of events, but he couldn't find himself one due to his bad reputation.

He was getting frustrated every day, and he was getting bored of the delinquent gig. Heck, it was his own boredom that got him in this mess in the first place. Had he known that the life of a delinquent would be a tiresome one, he wouldn't have tried it in the first place. Here he was now, trapped like a prisoner because of his own doing. All he ever wanted was a girlfriend. But then, at this rate, the only girlfriend he could ever have was his devil's right hand.

"Shit!", he cursed in frustration, as he lied on the floor thinking about his life and the possible future ahead of him. "I don't care who it is, just please give me a girlfriend!"

He shouted that loudly, and his voice echoed all over his empty house, full of his frustration. He knew that it would do him no good to just shout it on the house, but he had nothing else to do anyway. The weird part of this was, in the midst of all his frustration, someone answered him back.

"Really?" The voice was faint and soft, but it was distinct that he heard it anyway. The voice somehow gave him goose bumps.

"Who's there?"

He jumped up from the floor, searching the whole area for the intruder. The room was completely empty.

"You're that desperate for a girlfriend? I couldn't have imagined, although it would be normal for a teenage boy to have these desires", came the voice.

"Where are you? Show yourself!" Raito was getting wary, and he was ready to fight any moment. He ran to his cabinet to retrieve his baseball bat. That was when he realized that something weird was happening.

"What the…", and soon, the combined look of shock, terror and disbelief drew to his face all at once. "Guaaaaahhhhhh!"

What was once his right hand became something else entirely, or rather, someone else.

"Uwaaaahhhhhh!", he screamed. "Who are you, why the hell are you in my right hand?"

"Huh?", the man said innocently, rubbing his eyes. "Where am I? What are you saying?"

"You!" Raito repeated. "Why is there a guy on my sleeve?"

"Am I?", the black haired, insomniac looking man asked apathetically, looking down to see for himself.

"You're right", he said in the same blank tone. He stared at the teenager for a while until it registered on him, looking consciously on his surroundings. "Wait, it can't be…you're Yagami Raito-kun! Why am I on Raito-kun's arm?"

"THAT'S MY LINE, DAMMIT! SO TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Raito demanded the miniature sized man that occupied his right hand. He was easily freaking out.

"You are being too loud, my reasoning abilities are dropping fifty percent." The man answered. "I also do not know what happened, so please stop shouting."

"There has got to be some explanation!" Raito argued. "A guy can't simply pop up into another guy's right hand just like that."

"Indeed it couldn't, Yagami-kun", the puppet-like man agreed. "But I think that shouting won't give us any answers on this"

"You…hey wait!" Raito continued, realizing something. "How did you know my name?"

The man became suddenly quiet, and a little fidgety. Raito looked at him demandingly as the small man started to bite his fingernails.

"Umm…that could be because," he started, looking uneasy. "For a long time now, I've had a crush on you. We might be from different places but I've always been watching you from afar. People might think of you as a delinquent, but I know you're different from that. I've loved Raito-kun for five years now…"

For a second, Raito felt a little happy at having someone confess his love for him, but…

"No, that can't be right. First off, you're a guy, and that's weird because I don't think I will ever fall in love with a guy, and second, you're in my freaking right hand!" he shouted. "I've got no clue why the hell you like me, but I'll tell you straight out that this whole thing is a bother! With a hand like this, life is pretty damn fucking hard!"

"I…didn't do it on purpose", the man said, teary eyed. "When I woke up, I was suddenly on your arm. I don't know what happened. But then, I'm just so happy to finally be with my beloved Raito-kun"

Raito pinched the man's face with his two fingers.

"What the hell are you talking about? This is nothing to be happy about! What about me, huh? I'm the infamous "Mad dog Yagami", capable of silencing children with a single glance! What would happen if people saw me in a hand like this?" The flustered teen shouted, imagining an idiotic scenario with him looking all tough and mighty, and then, there was a small guy for his hand. "I'd look like a friggin' idiot!"

"Wh-when that time comes, I'll do my best to look as cool as possible", the man said with a determined look on his face.

"That's not the point here!" Raito replied, face palming himself.

"If Raito-kun only thinks of me being on his right hand as a problem, then I'll try my best not to stick out. Besides, I can help him out with the cooking and cleaning and studying and…"

"I don't need a house maid if that's what you're talking about. You're entirely missing the point, and I won't accept anyone's help!"

"I never thought Raito-kun can be this upset about this whole situation", the man pouted cutely, "I've always thought that Raito-kun was always cool. Does Raito-kun hate me that much?"

"Look, it's not that I don't like you, but you have to think about the whole problem in itself. If people discovered you being on my right hand, doctors would hunt me down for their research, the media won't keep quiet about this, I'd be famous everywhere I go, and then ventriloquists who lost their jobs would kill me…"

"Raito-kun has such a vivid imagination."

"I'm only thinking about the entire situation!" Raito shouted once more. "Besides, how did you even know me? I don't think I've seen you around these parts…"

"Yagami Souichiro works for me", the man answered offhandedly. "It is general procedure to look up into my men's family background."

"But my dad is overseas working for…" the boy's eyes widened. "So you're telling me you're L?"

"If I am still alive, then yes."

"Are you dead?"

"That could be a possibility, but I would like to believe that I am still alive."

"Then you have an idea on how this shit happened."

"I know equally the same as you do, Yagami-kun. I also do not have any idea how I ended up in your right hand, but if we work together, I think we might find our answer quicker."

"But what should I do? I couldn't possibly show up in school having you for a right hand, my image would be completely destroyed…"

"I guess having those feelings are normal for a seventeen year old boy, Yagami-kun, but this is not the time to be thinking about your delinquent image. We have far more important things to think about. I think you already realized that we can't just show this problem to anyone, or else not only would my identity be exposed, but also your own privacy. As much as possible, our cover should be the first priority."

"You're right, but…"

A loud knock rammed into the door at that moment. The delinquent sighed weakly.

"That has to be Matsuda", he said wearily. "No matter what you do, don't make a single sound. I'll deal with this quickly."

Putting on his best bad boy look, he partly opened the door, just enough to reveal his face.

"Yo, Raito-kun. Are you busy?" Matsuda cheerfully asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am", Raito said as he closed the door again, but was stopped just in time by Matsuda's arm.

"Hey, hey. You're not happy to see me? I'm hurt, Raito-kun. Just when I prepared a little surprise for you."

"I'm always not happy to see you. Why the hell do you insist on being my friend anyway?" Raito said, annoyed. "I'm not gonna do you any more favors."

"Relax, man. I'm not going to ask you anything this time, but these ladies might", Matsuda teased. "I saw them awhile ago. They're really hoping to see you."

A sudden wave of excitement hit Raito instantly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and I think they've fallen for you", Matsuda quipped. "What do you say, man?"

"Give me a second", Raito tried to muster up his cool in those four words alone, as he closed the door to a smirking Matsuda.

"I'll wait for you here, man", the older idiot called back.

Rushing to the kitchen, Raito rummaged around for anything that can cover his right hand, knowing that it would be a complete turn-off for the girls if they see this emo-looking man for his right hand. He found a couple of bandages and quickly wrapped them up.

"I'm telling you", he warned. "Don't make even a single sound. My future is at stake here, and I won't let you mess it up. If you can do that then I'll help you."

"Although I can easily disagree with you in a lot of ways, if you would really help me after this, then I guess…"

"Shut up!" Raito shouted, tightening the wrappings even further. L could only nod back, remembering the fact that he was claustrophobic after all.

Combing his hair to perfection, he opened the door once again.

"Eh," he said as he saw the two girls anxiously waiting for him. "Where's Matsuda?"

"He suddenly got a call from his boss," one of the girls replied, flashing her winning smile that instantly caused Raito to drool.

"Well then, come in, come in", he invited, showing them the best hospitality he could ever give.

* * *

"Really?", asked one of the girls. "Your parents are working overseas?"

"Yeah", Raito replied. "I'm actually living alone right now."

"It must be lonely living all by yourself."

"It's not much of a big deal…"

"Then maybe next time we can cook something for you."

Raito was really enjoying his time with the girls. This was like a dream come true for him. For seventeen long years, it seemed like his dreams were finally coming true, and for the first time, he met girls who actually like him. He was very ecstatic that he completely forgot about L.

"Umm….can I use your bathroom?", said the elder girl, looking slightly red, which Raito decided that he liked.

"Just go straight there and turn right", he said eagerly, flashing another one of his smiles. The girl blushed in return, going her way. Raito was really loving it.

"Raito-senpai…"

The seventeen year old boy diverted his attention to the younger girl, wearing glasses and looked really shy.

"Do you like younger girls?"

The question took him off guard.

"Huh?" he asked quizzically.

"I heard you don't have a girlfriend right now", the girl continued shyly. "So I was wondering if I had the chance."

Raito couldn't believe that for the first time, a girl actually confessed to him. There was no fear mixed on it. The girl seemed to actually have a crush on him. He better not blow this. Putting up his best macho image, he spoke coolly.

"Heh, you're not the first to ask me that…"

"Senpai, can I kiss you?" the girl added, pursing his lips. Who would've thought that the shy girl could be this outgoing? "Please close your eyes."

Excited about what would be his first kiss, Raito shut his eyes closed obediently, making him unaware of the dangerous girl just behind his back, ready to strike.

His arm jerked upward, just in time, hitting the sword off the girl, now broken in half. He half glanced at his bandaged hand. 'Could it be…that he protected me?'

Almost instantly, the two girls revealed their true intentions.

"I guess it couldn't be helped, now that you have seen through us. We're 'Dekult's ladies. Those were our boyfriends that you sent to the hospital!" the elder girl said spitefully. Raito couldn't care less. The only thing on his mind was his right hand.

"Hang on there, dammit! Snap out of it!" he yelled as he hastily rummaged around the kitchen to get the bandages off. He finally found a knife.

"Yeah, this'll do", he held it so firmly that he looked creepy with it, and made the girls shudder in fear. They were actually scared at what Raito would do with them.

"Nothing to see here, go away!" Raito shouted dangerously and the two girls easily fled, scared shitless at what they just witnessed. Raito however, only focused on taking the bandages off.

The small man looked really hurt, panting heavily. The boy looked very guilty.

"I was trying to warn Raito that those girls actually beat up Matsuda-san back when I heard his scream. But I managed to save your life without breaking my promise." L struggled saying. "Is Raito-kun okay?"

"Idiot", the boy said, full of guilt. "You can tell me these kinds of stuff in situations like this."

"But our secret will be discovered if I do that, Raito-kun."

"I can whip up some excuse when that happens." Raito explained. "I might not look like it, but I'm a smooth talker, you know. A secret like that is not worth getting anyone hurt"

L looked at him with probing eyes, Raito's face tinged a little red.

"You may be on my right hand right now, but you are still a human person. Your life is important than any secret."

L put his finger on his mouth.

"Raito-kun is a sweet boy, isn't he? I think I love him more"

Blushing furiously now, Raito grabbed his right hand.

"Shut up!"

That was how Raito's boring life got weirder.


	2. The Detective's Secret

Right Hand Man

**By:** Kaytee Kudo

**Category**: Death Note (but it's inspired by Midori no Hibi)

**Genre:** Humor, Crack, very subtle hints of LightxL

**Rating:** T

**Summary: **Light is a genius, but boredom causes him to become a delinquent, heart broken teenager, recently shot down by his 20th girl, and now wreaks havoc in the campus. Due to a curse by one of his schoolmates, he ends up one morning having a guy for a right hand…literally.

**Other Notes:** **:** Midori no Hibi inspired; AU (definitely); a little bit of shounen-ai, LxLight mostly, but it won't be that explicit, only the sweet stuff. I tweaked up L's character here because like the shy Midori becoming an outgoing, expressive right hand, L must follow suit and get with the story, the same with Raito becoming a delinquent. Besides, it would be too predictable if he stays like that. Beware of OOCness. You have been warned.

**Disclaimer:** No, no, no, you got it all wrong. Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba owns Death Note, not me. I also don;t own Midori no Hibi.

A/N: (For people who are not familiar with Midori no Hibi) Majority of the people who read this, I guess is not familiar with the series, Midori no Hibi, and I guess it would really be hard to imagine how a person would be stuck on another person's right hand without reading the series beforehand (I've been puzzled too, when I first read it), and seeing that ffnet does not allow pictures at all, I could not easily give a pic that would have cleared all questions. Googling it would probably be the best way to understand what's going on (it's also called Midori Days). Basically, L is stuck in Raito's right hand, like a puppet. I hope this helps

* * *

Chapter Two

**The Detective's Secret**

L Lawliet has been solving difficult cases as far as he could remember. The day he met Watari, he had already solved tough cases with the police. His very first case involved his family, and he caused his entire family to be imprisoned in jail for an indefinite time. Although he never thought much about it, such case made him live by himself for the first time.

When Watari came, he forgot everything about his family and concentrated on just solving tough and impossible cases for the Interpol. For the longest time, he thought that it was the best thing to do, and that Watari was doing a good job as his guardian.

That was until he took this one case, that involved massive amounts of violent attacks in Central America and in Europe. He was expecting to finish the case in as late as a month, planning only to use the task force Watari provided for him as back up in case he messed up, which he never did.

But on that particular day, when he was complacent that he could solve the case quickly, he fell upon the files of the policemen Watari provided for him to chose the members of his task force, which contained detailed information not only on the policeman itself, but also on his family, friends and other relatives. As expected of Watari, the file contained pictures.

He took the topmost file, a relatively thin package compared to the rest of the files, and opened it. He discovered it to be the file of one Japanese policeman, Yagami Souichiro, an excellent police chief and a responsible father. He has two kids.

Casually, he browsed through the pictures Watari provided on Souichiro and his family, Sachiko, Sayu, Raito. It took him a longer time to look at the son's picture. Yagami Raito. The boy looked interesting enough.

Soon, he found himself browsing through the information collected by Watari about the boy alone, and he kept on looking back at the boy's picture. Within moments, he fell in love, even when he didn't realize it at that time.

That was when everything started to change.

* * *

"Is Raito-kun really sure about this?"

"We're already here, so we might as well do it. Now shut up."

Raito covered his right arm more properly for good measure. Just an hour ago, he found his right hand occupied with a miniature man, who claimed himself to be L. It was something out of the ordinary, and he was at a loss for answers. He couldn't possibly live like that for long. People will make fun of him, and his whole bad boy image will be shattered with all the weirdness that was his right hand. He has to find an answer, and the only thing he could think of which could be the key to all of this was to go to the police station.

He went quickly inside the station, not greeting anyone but heading straight to his destination. The police in this area already recognize him because of his father, and no one ever questioned why the hell he would go to the police station anyway, most of their kids go there too. It was just basic privileges as a police chief's son, or rather, police-chief's son when his dad was still working there. He found Matsuda sitting seriously on his desk, looking focused on the computer screen.

"I thought you weren't allowed to play games in the computer, Matsuda", he greeted, to which the man jumped tensely before relaxing again as he recognized the teen.

"Raito! Good to see you, man. So how's the double date?" he winked.

"They were the girlfriends of those idiots I sent to the hospital the other day. But thanks for the effort"

"Oh, man. That's too bad. No wonder they looked a little suspicious. But hey, I don't need to file a report if it's not that serious right? And don't worry about those thugs. I already got it cleaned up. No evidence against you, that's for sure."

"I am so thankful I have you, Matsuda", he said sarcastically.

"So anyway, while you're here, did you read the files I sent you this…"

"It was obviously the step mother's fault. Go check her cabinet. There has to be a secret trap there where you'll find the evidence", he replied nonchalantly.

Matsuda processed the information for a second, before his eyes lit up.

"Hey, wow! I never thought about that. I'll go check on that tomorrow." He said as he took a pen and jotted the tip he received on his organizer. "Thanks a lot, Raito. You're an awful lot of help."

"When will you stop depending me on those cases you get stuck with, Matsuda? You should at least try to put up an effort on your investigations more, so you can do it by yourself."

"No way! If they discover me to be a good detective, they'll give me tougher cases, and I'll almost always cry for your help. Just look at Aizawa."

'Matsuda's right', Raito thought. Aizawa used to be his dad's subordinate before he left overseas, like Matsuda. When his dad left, Aizawa worked very hard while Matsuda just slacked off, and now, although Aizawa currently was the new police-chief, it was very evident to Raito that he got at least ten years older, and it was barely even six years after his dad left. Aizawa always looked tired, the way his father looked like when he was still in Japan, while Matsuda looked like he didn't age at all. He was still the carefree junior police he met back when he was eleven, even when his rank said otherwise.

"And you also need me to hide up all those charges you have from those fights, and your dad always checks up on you from me. Oh, is that why you're here?", asked the very talkative Matsuda.

"Yeah", Raito answered, a little relieved that he got the hint quickly.

"Didn't wait for me to remind you now, huh? I'll go set this up quickly", he said as he arranged the computer for Raito.

For six years now, Raito's father, Souichiro left Japan to go overseas, constantly leaving country after country. He used to be a police-chief on this region, but then he got called off to a difficult case, which he vowed to finish before going back to Japan. He didn't say any details, but from the hacking Raito did, he was sure that it was related to the case L was having a hard time on, not that he cared too much about his father's affairs.

His dad invested a lot on the States, and a year after that, he took his family with him, with the exception of Raito, who insisted that he stay there to finish his education. He hated American kids anyway, or rather, he just didn't want to leave Japan, period. And for Raito, it was reason enough.

He was already used to living alone in his big house, and after five years of freedom, he seemed to gain a reputation of having the best fist around. But then, his father was still clueless about this, thanks to the cover-up made by Matsuda all these years. His dad loves checking up on him, and every week, he was required to call them through video call for them to see how he's doing.

"There, all done!" Matsuda piped up eagerly as he offered his chair to Raito. "Say hi to the chief for me, will ya?"

"Sure," Raito answered as he took a seat and dialed the number. Soon, he was already seeing the blurry image of his father on the screen.

"Dad," he greeted. "How are you?"

"As usual, Raito." His dad answered automatically. "How is school?"

"Just fine, the same as always, I guess."

"Don't try to slack off on you studies, son. I know it's hard balancing your life there alone, but you have to keep it under control", he lectured. "Anyway, Matsuda's been assuring me you're doing fine, so I'll believe him."

"Of course, dad."

"I'm a little busy now, I'm sorry. But some things just came up, and I…"

"What happened, dad?"

"You know I can't tell you, but it just means I won't be able to talk to you for more than I would have liked. Be a good boy now, okay?"

Click!

It only took a few seconds for Raito to view the static image showing on Matsuda's PC.

"Sounds like the chief's busy", Matsuda commented. "But anyway, now that it's done, how about we go for a drink?"

Raito looked at him reprovingly.

"You know I'm just seventeen right?"

"Well, but I know you're already drinking, and it's just for this one time", Matsuda reasoned, scratching the back of his head. He always did that, and it annoyed Raito.

"You are such a good role model." Raito sighed as he went along. He had nothing else to do, anyway.

* * *

Raito knew even then that Matsuda was a light drinker, but this was ridiculous. It was only light beer, for God's sakes, and he only had half a bottle. Raito got another drink in frustration.

"Just so you know, Raito. I'm not doing this because I'm depressed, no sir." Matsuda slurred and Raito tried his best to inch away from the swaying man. "So don't worry about it, and just drink with me. We're buddies, right?"

"I'm starting to doubt it…"

"C'mon, don't be like that, Raito. We cover each other's backs, right?"

"Matsuda, don't tell me you went ahead and tried to confess to that girl you were telling me earlier." Raito said irritatingly, though he already knew the answer. "So what happened?"

"She said she didn't like idiots", he said bitterly. "I mean, do I even look like an idiot to you?"

"When you do these kinds of things, I can hardly imagine you becoming one", Raito said sarcastically.

"Heh, see? That's why I like you so much."

Raito inched a clear way away from Matsuda.

"But I'm not gay, obviously. We're just buddies", Matsuda said defensively.

Raito remained suspicious of him.

"But man, Aizawa can be such a pain sometimes. I mean, we might have been together more than those other detectives, but he's grown so stuck up, I can't imagine that we used to hangout together." Matsuda sipped on his bottle. "Can you believe just where he's planning to send me?"

"The institute for the mentally retarded?", Raito guessed.

"No, silly", Matsuda hiccupped. "He's forcing me to be part of this team who will be L's correspondents in Japan."

He carelessly said that out loud, before realizing what he said. "Oops", he said with no hint of regret. Luckily, there was hardly anyone in the bar anymore.

"You mean they need additional men to work on his case apart from my dad's group?" Raito asked curiously.

"I'm not supposed to tell you, man." Matsuda giggled.

"Here, have another drink", Raito offered casually. By now, he was already an expert on getting information from Matsuda.

"Yeah, keep 'em comin, man," Matsuda said as he took another swig of beer. "But man, it's not as if it's our fault that we have to do those additional tasks for L. I mean, if L decides to run away from a case, then it's not Japan's fault at all. They should blame the people guarding the man, for God's sakes. But noooo, I get assigned to the L taskforce just because I have prior background on it. I don't want to be reassigned to the case I so obviously ran away from before."

"What're you saying man? L running away? That's bullshit", Raito contested.

"Hey, hey, you don't believe me? Man, you're just like Aizawa sometimes. He told me that too….but that's because you don't know the whole story…"

"Coz' you didn't tell me"

"I'm not supposed to tell you", Matsuda hiccupped, and grabbed another bottle.

"We're buddies, right?" Raito looked at him straight in the eye, with only enough hint of persuasion for Matsuda to give in. The man can't resist giving in to the 'friends card'.

"Oh, well. You're right. We're buddies. I guess it's okay if it's just you. But don't tell anyone, okay?" he hiccupped again. "Nah, I know you won't tell, what am I thinking? That's silly of me."

Raito smiled. It will only take a matter of seconds now before he knew everything.

"Well, the Interpol has gone crazy just recently, and they've got 'nough reason to, anyway. They're in panic, to tell you the truth, and that's because a few hours ago, they received news that L is in a coma."

Raito's eyes widened at that, and Matsuda smirked.

"Heh, see, you're shocked too, huh?", Matsuda giggled. "But you know what? I think that whole thing's just bullshit. I should know. The chief always tell stories about L not being himself nowadays. I think he ran away from the case."

Matsuda took another swig of beer, which Raito was sure he would vomit off soon enough.

"Just think about it, I should know, too, since I did the same before. It already took him more than six years on that one single case, and before that, he was known to solve extremely complicated cases in less than a day." Matsuda burped horribly at that point, and Raito was a little thankful that he inched away from Matsuda just moments before, else he would have received the full blast of stench it gave. "And the chief's been telling me that he made frequent attempts to run away just the other year, it was only Watari that manages to stop him. I think that whatever he did now was effective, take what I did before with my right leg. The handicap was enough for me to be free from those stressful activities."

Matsuda patted his right leg fondly, reminiscing his brilliant escape from the L taskforce he was on years ago. Originally, since he was part of the group Raito's dad was in, Matsuda was also assigned to go overseas to become assistants to L's case. However, one week before they were set to leave, his right leg got shot in an encounter, which immediately gave him a honorary award for bravery.

He used this handicap as an excuse to refuse the case. His leg was back to normal now, as Raito noted, but Matsuda would almost always use that excuse to get him out of cases he wasn't particularly fond of, like hostage taking cases or situations where shoot outs were bound to happen. The guy really values his life more, something unusual for a policeman.

"But damn it, Aizawa said that my handicap won't be a problem since it will only involve investigations on our part anyway, dangerous encounters will be highly unlikely, and I'm not even required to go overseas."

Raito smirked at the man. Matsuda was not the type of guy who would enjoy going to other countries, much like himself. It was one of the few things they have in common, another thing would be their horrible luck with women.

"You'd help me out, right man? Nah, I'm sure you would. We're buddies", Matsuda slurred, looking for support. "Of course I'll also help you when you're in a tight spot, but man, I think you're getting better at getting out of it yourself, I gotta hand it to ya."

"Of course, I only learned it from you", Raito said playfully.

"Makes you feel sorry for L, huh? I mean, the way they treat him like a work horse, not having freedom. I bet they don't even allow him to have friends. The chief even admits to not even seeing his face even after all these years." Matsuda confided. "If it was me, I would have ran away years ago. Lasting for God knows what years is already an accomplishment, in my opinion."

"Yeah, you always run away", Raito seconded.

"It's just my principle not to do what I hate, man. You also agree with me, right? We're buddies."

"Sure", Raito answered. The man was obviously smashed at this point, and was prone to making pointless rants.

Raito was sure that when morning comes, the only thing Matsuda will remember was the stinging hangover on his head, completely forgetting the things he said from the time he drank that second swig of beer. It was just Matsuda to get irresponsibly drunk, then count on Raito to take care of the mess Matsuda made. Raito even took him home and deposited him on his bed. He already had the duplicate keys to this man's house, due to the countless times the man got drunk. When he was about to leave, he heard the groggy voice of Matsuda.

"Th-thanks….man…"

"Just don't do it again", Raito replied, though he doubted it if the man would ever listen to anything he said. He closed the door and left quickly.

This was the only time Raito talked to his right hand again, who at this point looked like a mixture of depression, guilt and loneliness. His complete silence made Raito unsure if he should talk to the man for a second, but he decided that he should get this over with quickly. He was about to strike up a conversation when L beat him up to it.

"I didn't know it would end this badly", he admitted, guilt evident on his face.

"You should have", Raito reprimanded him casually. "You should have at least assessed what would happen before you do anything."

"Your friend was right. I ran away from all of that. I was just so tired, and I'm sick of that case. I told them that I need a break, I wanted to go to Japan to see you, but Watari told me to just concentrate on the case. I spend all my time solving cases, I don't have friends", L continued. "I admit, the last few days I was only thinking of a plan to get away from all of that, because I was growing lonely, and I was always thinking what would happen if I go here and confess my feelings to you."

Raito wanted to scold him off some more, but the detective's face was already full of regret that he couldn't just heartlessly tell him he's wrong, even with everything he did.

"Now the national police force is in chaos, and I haven't solved that case yet. I think they might even use this as a chance to attack more people. It's all my fault. I made a wrong move." L looked like he was about to cry. "I've been completely irresponsible."

Tears were already threatening to fall in L's face when Raito suddenly pinched the small man's face with his two fingers.

"Oww…that hurt, Raito-kun!" L said in an annoyed voice.

"Heh, that's more like it. It's not cool for guys to cry", he said playfully. "You messed up, that's normal. But you're still alive to fix your mistakes, right? Real men don't cry from their mistakes."

"Raito-kun…" L looked at the boy with awe.

"And besides, even if you did run away, you're still feeling sorry about what you did, and that's what matters. You're not like some idiot I know who ran away and was proud of it. At least you're more responsible than Matsuda."

L rubbed his eyes a little roughly, trying to stop his tears. He looked at Raito with admiration.

"What?" Raito asked consciously.

"I think I love Raito-kun more than ever", came the innocent answer.

Trying to stop his face from turning red, the boy glared at the miniature man angrily.

"Will you stop saying shit like that already!"

End of chapter

* * *

A/N: Okay, nothing really much to say at the moment, but I hope everyone likes this chapter enough to review it. It helps a lot. On another note, I just want to inform readers of my other fanfic, Nine Months Due, that they can expect an update probably next week or earlier, depending on the free time I have, to edit and stuff. I'm working on it right now. Expect good things, but for now, review!


	3. The Lonely Delinquent

**Right Hand Man**

**By:** Kaytee Kudo

**Category**: Death Note (but it's inspired by Midori no Hibi)

**Genre:** Humor, Crack, very subtle hints of LightxL

**Rating:** T

**Summary: **Light is a genius, but boredom causes him to become a delinquent, heart broken teenager, recently shot down by his 20th girl, and now wreaks havoc in the campus. Due to a curse by one of his schoolmates, he ends up one morning having a guy for a right hand…literally.

**Other Notes:** **:** Midori no Hibi inspired; AU (definitely); a little bit of shounen-ai, LxLight mostly, but it won't be that explicit, only the sweet stuff. I tweaked up L's character here because like the shy Midori becoming an outgoing, expressive right hand, L must follow suit and get with the story, the same with Raito becoming a delinquent. Besides, it would be too predictable if he stays like that. Beware of OOCness. You have been warned.

**Disclaimer:** No, no, no, you got it all wrong. Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba owns Death Note, not me.

A/N: Back so soon! Just don't expect the next chapter to be posted this early, ok? Please enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**The Lonely Delinquent**

It was finally the day he dreaded for the entire weekend – the day he would finally go to school once more. He wouldn't really mind if he went to school on a normal day, he would just sleep in class anyway, but now, there was something really different about him, that was, his right hand was really different this time, or more accurately yet, he didn't even have a right hand to speak about, because instead of a normal right hand most humans get, for Raito, the only thing he could see beyond his arm was a small, puppet-sized man, who claims himself to be L. He knew pretty well that he'd be the laughing stock of the school if anyone discovers this, and his reputation as a 'mad dog' would likewise disappear. He was just hoping that the day will go on smoothly without anyone knowing his secret.

He turned to look at the one person that caused all this trouble…only to be utterly surprised.

"Good morning, Raito-kun!" L greeted happily. There was something different from the man, and Raito was not liking it. "Starting today, we'll be going to school together, so I thought that I can't go around half-naked anymore. I made this shirt when you were asleep!"

Raito was a little surprised to discover that the man can actually make his own clothes, and looked at what L was wearing. It was a plain white shirt, only that, right on the very middle, was a logo that said 'I love Raito-kun' in bold letters.

"Did you like it, I took special attention with the logo, too. I think it turned out nicely-"

"What the hell shit were you thinking? Are you a moron!" Raito shouted, grabbing the bandages and wounding them into L, covering him completely. "You're forbidden to come out!"

L sighed in defeat. He figured as much.

* * *

With the exception of one Light Yagami, for most students, the day was just like any other day, a lazy Monday morning. Nobody actually bothered to hurry up for class, since it was still early and it would look stupid anyway. Instead, they dawdle around and chat with friends, catching up with what happened to them during the weekend, most of them were even wishing there was no school today.

Raito was probably one of them, but all for extremely different reasons, and this was the why he went to school with a bandaged right hand today. He was too conscious about his right hand that he accidentally bumped into arrogant guys showing off in the middle of the street.

"Hey, watch where you're going, punk! Do you…" the guy stopped bragging around when he saw just who the hell bumped into him. "Y-yagami-dono! I'm ss-orry for being rude…" he mustered as he started running off, nearly pissing his pants. His idiot friends followed him with the same demeanor.

'I guess it's okay, after all, if everyone's scared of me, no one will discover my secret', the seventeen year old delinquent thought, successfully putting up his scary thug look that made even the toughest guy cry.

He was about to let out a sigh of relief when he realized that people were actually staring at him, looking at his bandaged hand and murmuring things that might had caused such a thing.

'This is bad, it's having the opposite effect', he thought disappointedly as he passed through numerous students exchanging gossips on what happened to his right hand. He endured it silently, hoping that the day would be over soon.

"Raito-kun goes to a nice school", L pointed out, peeking from his sleeve. This alerted Raito, darting off a threatening look to the detective as if to say "Keep quiet, or I'll kill you"

L sank back to his sleeve like a scolded child.

"Hey, did you hear, Yagami actually got hurt"

"He must have been fighting again"

"He's really scary"

Those were only a few thoughts, or at least the milder statements of the students going around Class 2-A, Raito's classroom, the section holding the top students in Taikoku Gakuen High School, a private school boasting of students who will naturally go to Tokyo University.

Needless to say, it holds the brightest students in Japan, the smartest, elite students in Japan, aiming to be in the best universities were easily found there, in Raito's class, and with all those factors, it was and obvious fact that Raito stuck out like a sore thumb.

Raito, in all honesty, never even wanted to be in that school in the first place, heck, if given the choice, he would have ditched high school altogether. It was his father who wanted him to study there, and as far as Souichiro Yagami was concerned, his son is still the same son he had before he left for the States: a quiet, obedient boy who always gets the best grades.

As much as he was sick of enduring all the discrimination his class mates were giving him, he preferred to stick to the façade he was giving his father of being an obedient, smart son, so that he could stay in Japan for all he liked. It would really be a pain to go overseas once they heard of his unlikely reputation here, and Raito would rather avoid that situation.

Most of the students, Raito could tell, were jealous of him. He gets the best grades without even studying, in fact he even gets into fights (which never actually gets reported, thanks to Matsuda's influence, but nonetheless earned him his infamous reputation throughout the whole school), and goes to school an hour late on exams, finishing all of it in half an hour.

His teachers don't care either way. As long as he keeps his grades, he can do anything for all they care. Besides, they can't simply kick a guy who tops every national exam in Japan, it would ruin their reputation. Their image is more important than discipline, and as long as Raito can clean up his mess afterwards, they won't go after him.

This was all the more reason for his classmates to hate him. No one ever talks to him, and he doesn't want to, either. They were just a bunch of losers who can't even fight straight in the face, choosing to destroy a person by stabbing them in the back. Besides, aside from the people who hated him, the only population left was the guys who were just plain scared of him, and then, there were a few exceptions that call themselves his minions.

On this particular day, when the whole school discovered his hurt hand, rumors and nasty comments were bound to spread in the entire class room.

"Hmph. I'm not scared of a delinquent like him!", came a very resolved, strong voice. "Anyone who needs to prove his strength through violence is the worst type of person. If you're scared of them, it only encourages them."

"But Takada-san…that's true, but…"

Raito slammed open the door, interrupting the class conversation. He walked so fast to avoid the people staring at him, only to find a whole classroom looking scared at him, it's not as if he did anything wrong, though. It annoyed him when people instantly judge him from what they see.

"Hey, Yagami-san! I heard the news!" came a lively voice from the same door he came from.

"Yamamoto!", he said a little surprised. His subordinate was actually a pretty energetic fool.

"You've created another legend. I heard some yakuza tried to take you on with some car, but you wasted it in one punch!"

"That's not even possible…"

"Then, it was a motorcycle cop?"

He had a sudden desire to face palm himself that time.

"I'd be arrested, idiot."

"Please stop talking foolishness, and go back to the classroom. Class started a minute ago", Takada Kiyomi interrupted their conversation.

"What did you say, bitch?" Yamamoto shouted, poised to fight. Raito kicked him in the head.

"Go away", he said with finality.

"I'm sorry", Yamamoto apologized, as he went back to his classroom defeated,

"Sorry about that, my subordinate has poor manners", Raito said to Takada.

"Then you're the same, aren't you? He looks up to you after all."

"What did you say?" Raito felt insulted.

"What, are you going to hit me now?" Kiyomi threatened challengingly. Arms crossed in with an air of defiance. Raito was really pissed off, he had a right to be, he hated people who instantly judge him for what they see, and if he had it another way, he would have argued back, but seeing the number of eyes watching him closely, he knew that he would lose either way. Even this Takada knows it. In this school, there was no one there who would take his side.

Sighing in defeat, he walked away quietly to his chair, and at that point, numerous sighs of relief was heard from most of his classmates who were scared of violence. Takada smirked victoriously as some of her friends complimented on how brave she was. A minute later, classes started and Raito had to endure eight hours of this very unwelcome aura given by his classmates.

He was more than thankful when the bell rang, signaling the end of classes. He fixed his things lazily as he went on looking exhausted. Going to school with that amount of stress was definitely a tiring job, he was just survived it for a day.

Or not.

In front of the campus gates, he could already see a number of thugs wildly swinging their clubs and yelling in search for him. What a way to end the day.

"Hurry up and bring that bastard Yagami here, we've got no time idling around here!", one of the guys he assumed to be the leader demanded.

Raito decided that the best course of action was just to sneak up away from there, so that he can go home peacefully. He had already been through enough for one day, and fighting was the least thing on his mind.

He was about to make a run for it when he heard the same distinct, strong voice that challenged him that morning.

"What do you guys want!", she shouted forcefully. "Don't you know that you're in our way if you stand there? Hurry up and move!"

"What the hell is she doing?", Raito voiced out loud, due to his surprise, although it was something expected of Takada, anyway. Luckily, the tensions were too heavy that no one seemed to notice him.

"This is our school. If you don't go here, then you should leave"

It really was something expected of Takada, not minding goons like that, and fighting for her rights, but sometimes, she should at least consider the situation before speaking her mind. There were already a number of students scared for her, and although Raito would admit that she has guts, what she did just now was just stupid.

All the gang members laughed.

"That's a spunky one", the leader said after laughing really hard. "Yeah, we're really scared now."

Takada blushed, but did not falter.

"What's so funny about that?"

The other members laughed some more.

"But you know, I think she's pretty cute. Why don't we play with her for a while?", the guy added, and this time, Takada realized just what kind of situation she was in.

"That's a good idea. Why don't we ditch Yagami for now and have fun with her?", said the other gangster. "What? You're about to go home anyway, right?"

Takada did not back down.

"You have got to be kidding me!" she said, mustering up all the courage she had. "I absolutely hate delinquents like you. If you don't stop, I'll call the police and…"

One of the guys slapped her hard.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My hand just moves on its own when it gets upset. So watch what you're saying, okay?"

The others laughed some more.

Takada's hand was suddenly grabbed forcefully.

"Enough with this shit, alright? Let's go some place nice. Don't be scared, we'll really take care of you", the leader said as he pulled Takada towards him.

Takada could feel her legs shake. Looking desperately for help, he turned to his school mates, but it looked like no one even dared to get help, or make any move.

"We should stay out of it", she heard one of the girls say. "I mean, you reap what you sow, right?"

"Shouldn't we call a teacher or something?", came another.

"Don't bother. They'll be gone before they come here anyway"

Takada was seriously getting scared from all the things she was hearing, and she was about to cry when she felt the grip on her arm loosen. It appeared that Yagami kicked the gang leader's head straight down.

"You're in my way", Raito said threateningly. "Move"

"We've been waiting for you, Yagami-teme!" the leader's attention was completely diverted to Raito, ready for action a he commanded his men to attack.

"Aim for his right! He's still injured, so he can't use it. He's still weak! We can still beat him!"

"Oh yeah? Come and try it bitch!"

After all of it was said and done, Raito was seen to be surrounded by badly beaten guys. It only lasted for a minute, they weren't a match for him even when he couldn't use his right hand.

"Pathetic", he said mockingly. "I better not see you guys around here again."

He turned to walk away from the scene that already has an audience of his frightened school mates. He never really wanted to show his brute force in front of the school, he guessed he just screwed up this time.

"Y-yagami…I…", came a weak voice just a few meters away from him. It was Takada, looking extremely embarrassed and uneasy.

"It's not like I was doing it to save you", he said arrogantly. "Don't start flattering yourself"

He left quickly from the scene, leaving a red faced Takada and a number of people already murmuring just how scary and violent he was. He was not the type of person who would enjoy praises anyway.

"Owowowowow! Come on! Be a bit gentler!"

"Raito-kun should please endure it for a while. It will be over soon", L said as he went and treated the last wound he could see on Raito's face.

"I really shouldn't have helped that idiot Takada! If a teacher ran out that time, I would have been suspended again"

'Even though you knew that, you're just not that type of person, Raito-kun, and that's why I love you', L thought as he placed a bandage on Raito's wound.

"Raito-kun is good at fighting, but you're crying after just that, I think it's cute"

"Shut up!" Raito barked, hiding his blush. L proceeded to treat his patient, when he noticed Raito staring at him for a while.

"Why is Raito-kun staring at me?"

"….this gives the phrase 'a helping hand' a whole new meaning, right?" Raito commented as he rubbed the back of his head.

"….apparently, Raito-kun is not good at giving jokes…"

"Hey!"

* * *

A/N: Just a quick vocabulary: using ~teme to address people is very, very rude, like saying 'bastard' or anything equivalent to it, and is usually only used in manga or anime, by gangsters. Another similar expression is 'kisama', which is also a rude way of addressing people, for a greater effect, is again usually only used in manga and anime. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Be sure to review!


	4. Misunderstood

**Right Hand Man**

**By:** Kaytee Kudo

**Category**: Death Note (but it's inspired by Midori no Hibi)

**Genre:** Humor, Crack, very subtle hints of LightxL

**Rating:** T

**Summary: **Light is a genius, but boredom causes him to become a delinquent, heart broken teenager, recently shot down by his 20th girl, and now wreaks havoc in the campus. Due to a curse by one of his schoolmates, he ends up one morning having a guy for a right hand…literally.

**Other Notes:** **:** Midori no Hibi inspired; AU (definitely); a little bit of shounen-ai, LxLight mostly, but it won't be that explicit, only the sweet stuff. I tweaked up L's character here because like the shy Midori becoming an outgoing, expressive right hand, L must follow suit and get with the story, the same with Raito becoming a delinquent. Besides, it would be too predictable if he stays like that. Beware of OOCness. You have been warned.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Death Note. And I don't own Midori no Hibi.

Format notes: _'in an italics, shows what a certain character is thinking_'

"in normal font, tells what a certain character is saying"

A/N: As always, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter enough to review. Thanks for reading, guys!

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**Misunderstood**

Light could not decide if it was the smell of burning food, or the awful throbbing of his head that woke him up so early in the morning, but he could easily tell the one person who would have the guts to pull off that stunt.

"What the hell are you doing?", he stood up and quickly extinguished the fire that was threatening to burn the house, not looking at the culprit until he managed to save his house. The said culprit looked teary eyed when Light finally darted his early morning death glare.

"I-I'm sorry, Raito-kun. I was just trying to make you a bento and I…"

Raito pinched the puppet-sized man to keep him from crying, because in all honesty, the one thing he wouldn't want to deal with, more than saving his house from fire, was to comfort the man who was responsible for such a stunt.

"Do you even know how to cook?" Raito asked suspiciously, as he examined the remnants of the crime scene. The only traces of food were the charred bits of something that now looked inedible, which he would spend hours to scrape from the pans. On the table where layers of colorful lunch boxes which until now looked like it was eagerly waiting for something to fill it with. Well, that sucked. "And don't just things here without permission."

Raito immediately gathered the lunch boxes and put them in the cabinet where it rightfully belonged, and locked it. Those were not his, anyway. It belonged to his sister, who also left for the states with his mom and dad, and he would really prefer not to find their stuff lying around like that, as it made him antsy.

It was only then that Raito realized that the detective was eagerly anticipating his next move.

"Is Raito-kun mad at me?" he asked innocently.

Raito avoided L's gaze altogether and just said something differently.

"Just don't try to burn the house again", Raito said coldly, as he quickly donned his school uniform. "And remember that I whenever you do anything stupid, since we're attached as it is, you're dragging also me on your shit. I don't want to wake up again with bruises on my faces just because you thought you could experiment on _my_ house without _my_ permission."

Raito hoped that the extra emphasis would make the detective finally understand what he was trying to say more effectively.

"But Raito-kun, what about breakfast?" L asked innocently, which pretty much summed up the puppet-sized man's comprehension.

"I don't need any", the boy answered cockily as he drifted his way to school.

"B-but Raito-kun is a growing boy and he needs his daily vitamins to…"

"I get it, okay?", Raito hissed annoyingly. "I'll just buy curry bread in the school canteen."

"It's better for Raito-kun to buy a bento, since it offers a complete…"

"Shut up already", Raito spat. "If it makes you happy, then I will buy a bento, so get off my case"

L finally smiled.

"I'm glad"

* * *

"Is it me, or are the desks farther away than usual?"

Raito always sat at the very back of the room, near the window, and it was a matter of right for him to always sit there, that or his classmates were just too scared of him to oppose his rightful place. It was the most bearable place in the classroom anyway. Any seat other than that place would make him so bored he wouldn't even go to class, and besides, he can at least look outside to daydream or whatever when things get really unbearable.

Due to his reputation in the whole campus, no one would really try and take that spot from him anyway, it was like a silent rule everyone else has to follow, if they know what's good for them.

But anyway, the distance of the other desks were deliberately moved away from Raito's seat, thinking that they would get in trouble if they invade even an inch of the delinquent's space. And now, the desks are farther apart that the gap was too obvious for anyone to guess who they were scared of. He had to admit that displaying acts of violence in front of the school gates for all the world to see would naturally make peace-loving students (especially in this class) terrified of him. The logic to it was as plain as day.

That just goes to show that his days of street fighting are starting to get meaningless. But unlike girls, those gangs seem to cling to him and find him even when he is hiding, and that one fight almost always brings in another two or three fights. It was a sick cycle, and Raito wanted nothing else but to just escape from all of it and live a simple, happy life with a girl. But then, in reality, he was more of a gang than a chick magnet, anyway.

Raito almost gagged when he saw another letter of challenge lying under his table for what seemed like the third time this week, and it was only the second day of the week. And once more, he was stuck in another dilemma. This was just not his day.

"Now then, shall I take down notes?" L said eagerly as he took Raito's notebook and pen, and was about to start when the delinquent snatched the pen away from him, and used it to poke L's head.

"KYAAA~~~.."

Raito shot up from his desk, effectively getting the attention of the entire class, including the teacher, who looked more nervous than Raito even when it was the latter who started the ruckus anyway.

"Y-yes, Mr. Yagami?" the weak-spirited English teacher whimpered when he met the boy's gaze, which looked murderous as it is, and really, he would have fought for his rights and demanded proper attention from his class if it was any other student, but he knew that with this kid, he was fighting a losing battle. This boy is untouchable, as his principal mentioned, and he could quite agree to it, if not for his superior brains, then his daunting violence records, and he would very much want to stay in this school for another year, so he had to be careful.

Raito was also shocked from the sudden reaction. He just wanted to make a point, and he did it literally. The only problem was, he didn't expect the detective to give a high-pitched scream with just that. And why "kyaa"? That was a really feminine reaction.

"I am sorry, sensei", he said calmly, but the teacher still looked wary and felt a threatening aura emanating from the delinquent. He gulped, but Raito didn't mind it at all. He seemed used to all of his teacher's reaction anyway.

"Please continue with class", he said as he sat down again, not minding the audible murmurs from his classmates at how horrible his attitude is.

When everything finally settled down, he looked back at his hurt arm, who was on the verge of tears, yet again.

"That was horrible, Raito-kun. I was just trying to help…"

"Shut up, you're just making the situation worse than it already is."

That did made the detective shut up, but not without making a spiteful look at Raito. The said boy just sighed, and spent the rest of his time gazing at the window.

It was true that he was gazing at the window as a habit, but that habit of his probably started the first time he received a letter of challenge, and because of the number of challenges he received throughout his lifetime, gazing at the window seemed like an automatic reaction to him.

Who is it this time? Which of his minions were taken as a hostage? Where are they waiting? What time?

_Be in front of the Yellow Box Warehouse at 11 am. If you're not there by then, your good pal Yamamoto is a dead man._

That Yamamoto. If there is one thing that guy is good at, he can pretty much bet his life at him being an able hostage. The kid just keeps getting caught by gangsters that it is becoming a burden, Raito could not even give an exact number on how many times the guy was caught just this year, and it had been going on for five years now. But then, Yamamoto was one of the men who always stuck by him, even back then. He was one of the hardcore members of his so called union. On the other hand, he had already promised himself to stop fighting. He didn't want to break the promise in less than a day.

The thoughts just keep piling up as the class continued peacefully. In fact he was unconsciously checking the time every now and then, and just stopped himself quickly whenever he realized what he was doing. He shouldn't do anything rash. He decided to just ignore the letter and pretend that he didn't see anything. Soon, his watch seemed to tick at an annoyingly loud sound, and his heart had even matched the exact rhythm.

He checked the letter again to grasp all the details of the challenge. Only that, he was not the only one looking at the letter this time.

"You're going to save him, right, Raito-kun?" L said expectantly as he bit one finger, reading the note once again.

"Heh, what are you saying?" Raito said indifferently. "I don't really…"

"Please go, Raito-kun" L said persuasively, and although the boy acted like he didn't care, he just knew that his message would get through. "I know you don't like being forced to fight but when you're friend is taken hostage, it's a different story, right? You don't have to worry about me."

The teen looked dumbstruck.

Suddenly, and quite forcefully, he stood out of his chair and went for the door, with no excuses whatsoever, slamming the door wide open as he left without anyone having anything to say about it.

For a while, it seemed like everyone was shot to death, as the entire room went dead silent, as if everyone was frozen on the spot. It took a clear minute to recover from the shock, except for the teacher who looked like he almost pissed his pants. This gave the class a chance to talk about what just happened.

"What the heck is with him?"

"If it's Yagami, it's probably a fight"

"God, I hate delinquents like him. He should just quit school now and get it over with"

"But he still gets the top scores…"

"That's why it's more infuriating. Guys like that should just die…"

Soon, the entire class was quietly murmuring their opinions on the one guy they just can't beat no matter what area it is. The talks just wavered down a bit when the teacher finally regained his composure and told them to settle down. Being the honor students that they were, they dutifully obeyed and turned to their books.

Takada just stared at the empty seat, still in disbelief at the stunt Raito just did, when she saw a sheet of paper lying innocently near Raito's desk. Out of curiosity, she picked it up and read what it said. She just couldn't believe what she read.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the empty warehouse, the thugs who kidnapped Yamamoto is quickly getting impatient as the time went by, that they began beating the tied up hostage, not minding whatever they said in the challenge.

"Keh," a gang member spat. "It's no fun beating a weakling like him. How much longer until our deadline?"

"Still five more minutes. You think he won't show up?"

"Heh, if that's the case, then we'll just mess up this bastard"

"Too bad for you, eh, Yamamoto? Beginning to think you've been abandoned?"

Mustering up all his strength, he faced the gangster who just asked him a stupid question.

"Sh-shut up, you bastards! Yagami-san won't abandon his friends!" he said strongly. "Don't think you can get away with this. When he comes here, he'll beat the shit out of all of ya"

"Really?", said one of the more cocky-looking guys, waving his baseball bat. "I'm looking forward to it. And if he doesn't show up, we'll just take out all of our frustration on you."

He went closer to Yamamoto, who was looking cheekily at him, then Yamamoto did the most unpredictable thing and just bit the guy like a dog.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?", the poor guy said angrily.

"Why don't you just fight me like a man?", challenged Yamamoto.

"Stop fucking with us, bitch!"

Thus came another round of gang violence. That was exactly the scene when Raito finally arrived.

"Hey, isn't that a bit too much? I went outta my way to get here in time, but you guys still mess him up?"

A brand new spark of violence instantly lit their eyes as they finally saw the person they've been waiting for.

"We've been waiting for you, bastard!" the lower minions shouted in unison.

"Yagami-san!", Yamamoto shouted with joy as if he just saw his hero coming to save him. That probably was the case. Raito removed his uniform jacket, and used it to cover his right hand.

"You can untie him", the boss said to one of his members, as he turned to Raito.

"Looks like you took care of my guys from yesterday. I don't believe I've thanked you properly for that, Yagami-teme."

Raito just stood there, without saying a word as all of the gang members charged directly at him.

* * *

Takada dashed from school, filled with doubts and questions at what Raito just did.

_'Why did you do that, idiot? Why did you save me yesterday? Why are you fighting again?' Takada quietly asked as she ran to where the letter indicated. 'I thought you were different from the others delinquents, who only fought to show off their strength and assert their authority. I thought you were different from them.'_

She quickened her pace as she stopped herself from crying. There was a part of her that just can't accept this from happening.

"Yagami, you idiot!"

* * *

When she arrived at the warehouse, she saw the thugs gathering around something, which she was surprised to see was Raito.

_'But I thought he was strong? How can these guys…'_

"Che," said the leader of the gang. "That's enough, stop. There's no point in beating up a guy who ain't fighting back. Let's just go"

Reluctantly, the other members followed, looking at Raito in disgust.

"Shit, you ask for a mad dog, you get a coward. I've never been so disappointed in my life."

Following the leader, the gangsters left slowly, revealing a badly beaten Raito, who was protecting his right arm all the while. Yamamoto kneeled at him teary eyed, and actually cried at seeing his hero with a heavily bruised face.

"Yagami-san…why? You could have easily beaten those guys up, so why didn't you swing even once?"

Raito hit him in the head, to put some sense into him.

"Because you're a friggin idiot."

He wiped some of the blood from his mouth.

"They took you hostage just to get to me. If I went and beat those guys there, next time, one of the other guys might get dragged into it", Yamamoto's eyes widened. "I can't stand other people getting hurt because of me, that's all."

Slowly, Yamamoto realized that Raito was actually doing a better solution, just to protect his followers.

"Yagami-san…I…"

"Quit crying, ya baby!" Raito said laughingly. "Come on, I'll treat you to some ramen. I'm hungry…"

Takada watched the two guys slowly walking, with Yamamoto wiping his tears harshly with the sleeve of his jacket, Raito laughing all along as if nothing happened. But she heard everything, and she knew what he did.

She smiled brightly.

* * *

The next day, as expected, the gap between chairs were exaggeratedly farther, and Raito could tell just as much. He came to school heavily bandaged, anyway. But more than that, those classmates of his started murmuring loudly, like he doesn't hear anything that they were saying, and it was actually annoying.

"Looks like it was a fight after all"

"That guy is scary. Why is he still going to class?"

Raito just remained quiet, not minding the annoying opinions and decided to just face it like a man. L however, was worried at the current situation and what it might cause in the future. Inside, he knew that Raito was suffering as well.

Suddenly, they heard a chair being moved, and everyone looked to see Takada moving her desk near Raito. All of them, especially Raito, looked surprised.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm just moving my chair to its original position."

L smiled. It seems that there was finally someone who understands his Raito-kun. However…

"Hey, Yagami-kun…what does this sentence mean? I just can't understand…" Takada asked three minutes later, showing the book to Raito, who eagerly read the passage.

"Oh, it looks complicated, but it's really just…" Raito answered quickly, not minding anything and focusing on answering the question, unaware that at that moment, the two of them were really close to each other, heads almost touching together. Unfortunately for him, L was clearly aware of what was happening, and he just didn't like the scene in front of him. He quickly took Raito's pen and charged at his left hand.

"OWWWWW!"

That was L's first case of jealousy.

END OF CHAPTER

* * *

Some notes:

bento - boxed lunch. It is usual for boxed lunches to be sold in convenience stores or canteens in Japan...but since Raito got in the fight, he never got to buy it for lunch, and had ramen instead

ramen - noodles

A/N: I noticed that I am basing the plot by the book until now, but I hope everyone still appreciates it, as I'm laying down the foundations of the story. Anyway, I hope I'll make a better plot development next time. Review please!


	5. Comrades

**Right Hand Man**

**By:** Kaytee Kudo

**Category**: Death Note (but it's inspired by Midori no Hibi)

**Genre:** Humor, Crack, very subtle hints of LightxL

**Rating:** T

**Summary: **Light is a genius, but boredom causes him to become a delinquent, heart broken teenager, recently shot down by his 20th girl, and now wreaks havoc in the campus. Due to a curse by one of his schoolmates, he ends up one morning having a guy for a right hand…literally.

**Other Notes:** **:** Midori no Hibi inspired; AU (definitely); a little bit of shounen-ai, LxLight mostly, but it won't be that explicit, only the sweet stuff. I tweaked up L's character here because like the shy Midori becoming an outgoing, expressive right hand, L must follow suit and get with the story, the same with Raito becoming a delinquent. Besides, it would be too predictable if he stays like that. Beware of OOCness. You have been warned.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Death Note. And I don't own Midori no Hibi.

**

* * *

**

Chapter Five

**Comrades**

"Waaaa", was all L could say when Raito handed him a cone of ice cream.

"Thank you, Raito-kun. Chocoberry had always been my favorite, and I never thought I would be able to eat an ice cream this huge!"

The teenage delinquent looked at the puppet sized man whose eyes were only focused on the ice cream. Given his size, it looked as if the ice cream was even taller than him, which made him happier. He was such a simple man.

"Just shut up and eat it, it's not much of a big deal", Raito said as he devoured his vanilla-flavored ice cream in one bite, looking away from L and his innocence.

"Ahhh….Raito-kun?" L asked, a little weakly, which made the boy look at him out of curiosity.

"H-help me…"

"What the…"

* * *

Raito watched the ice-cream covered detective wash himself in the public faucet, which given his size, easily sufficed as a high-pressured shower. At one point, Raito had to go ahead and help the pale looking man get off all the ice cream in his hair, so that the man would stop shivering.

Anyway, given the size of the ice cream, and the hot environment, the two of them should have known better. The ice cream melted faster than usual, and as soon as it did, all of it just fell on L like an avalanche, covering him in cold ice cream instantly.

It was a good thing that they found a faucet quickly, and now, L was washing his shirt.

"Ah, this won't do, it's all wet."

"Well, it's better than it having been soaked in ice cream"

"Hmmm…Raito-kun is right. Anyway, it's a good thing that Raito-kun is always wearing long-sleeved shirts, or else I would have to endure being naked for a while."

"And whose fault do you think that is?" Raito asked the half-naked, puppet-sized man spitefully.

Ever since L popped in his right hand, he was forced to wear long sleeved shirts all the time, even in a hot day like this, when the same detective asked him to go to the park this weekend, saying that there was nothing else to do at home, and him having to reluctantly go since he still had to shop for stuff to eat. But then it was not so long when he regretted the decision all along. He should have just picked the afternoon to do his shopping, as he was sweating badly in his attire.

"We can't do our shopping now, because the air-conditioning there might get you a cold", Raito commented, and L's eyes sparked at hearing concern in the boy's voice.

"Raito-kun is worried about my health? I am so happy to hear that…"

"Shut up!"

Come to think of it L only wears that horrible shirt all these times.

"Errr…Raito-kun, would you stop staring uncomfortably at me? I feel uneasy…"

Raito said nothing, but just continued staring, L had no choice but to give in.

"I guess such things are normal for a seventeen-year old boy…"

"I think you're just about the right size…" Raito said finally.

"Wh-what are you saying, Raito-kun? We are in public and…well, I guess if that's your thing then I can just manage…"

"What the hell are you saying, you pervert?" Raito shouted loudly. Luckily for him, no one bothered to care that he was talking to himself so loudly.

"Then what is Raito-kun thinking about?"

"What I'm trying to say is….you might actually fit in one of those…"

"?"

"Doll clothes, dammit!" Raito said irritably. "I mean, you're just about the same size as a doll, so maybe we can buy one and…"

"Raito-kun would do that for me?" L asked, getting a little teary eyed.

"It's not a big deal, I mean, you ruined your clothes, so we should buy you new ones…"

"Yes, let's go! Thank you, Raito-kun!" L said excitedly.

"Just don't get too excited…"

* * *

"Woooow!" L said as they entered the hobby shop and were greeted with tons of fashionable doll clothes. "It's like a dream come true!"

"….More like, a nightmare…" Raito could tell that apart from the merchandise, the entire shop was filled with rabid-looking otaku.

"Yappari, the e-model is different"

"This special summer edition is an especially rare model…"

"Original edition? But isn't this the anime edition? I must know who made this…"

"Let's ask the store manager…"

Raito was left in a daze.

'_What the hell are they talking about? I'm totally lost…'_

"Hey, L, hurry up." Raito whispered. "If anyone I know finds me in a place like this, I'm screwed. Which one do you want?"

L pointed innocently at one of the stalls, and Raito checked it out.

-WEDDING DRESS CORNER-

And L was actually pointing at one of the gaudier designs.

"Be serious, you idiot!"

Raito must have shouted it loud, as now all of the otaku population were looking at him. He pulled off a scary, gangsta threatening face, the kind notable for making kids cry.

"What, you find me to be interesting, huh?"

But it seemed to have an opposite effect on the otaku men.

"What is that thug doing here"

"Geez, guys like that are the worst"

This is going bad.

"Hey, Raito-kun, look. I never thought that Japanese Kimonos would suit me just fine"

Raito visibly twitched a vein.

"Stop playing and get fucking serious!"

"Well, isn't that Yagami-kun? I never thought I'd see you in a place like this."

Raito turned around to see a long-haired, shady looking guy, who was waving at him.

"Who are you?"

The guy seemed to be disappointed at the question.

"Heh, I thought you'd say that. I try my best to keep a low profile at school", he re-positioned his thick-looking glasses. "I'm Mikami Teru, your English teacher."

As you might have guessed, inside Raito, panic-mode has commenced, with thoughts and what-ifs rapidly processing in the genius mind of his only that the thoughts were drowned by a loud scream of 'nooooooo' by Raito. He was even thinking that, in the worst case scenario, he had to break this teacher's jaw. But outside, the teenager didn't even look the slightest bit worried.

"Wah, I never thought that you, the legendary mad dog Yagami, feared by everyone around you….I never thought that we'd share the same hobby…"

He searched inside his bag, and pulled something for Raito to see.

"That's right, I love them too! I love figurines!"

"N-no, wait, I don't really…"

"Fufufu…there's no reason to hide it from me, Yagami-kun. We're 'comrades, aren't we?" said the nerdy looking teacher. "I also keep it a secret from my colleagues. It would shatter everyone's image of me. I think as your sensei, I have to take care of you"

'_Oh shit, what do I do?'_

"Er…you're right, sensei, I also love figurines, so please don't tell anyone else…"

"Ah, you're so right. People are so conceited, they just wouldn't understand. Real women just wouldn't live up to my expectations. I prefer cute, lovely, innocent little dolls…don't worry, as your sensei, I'll take care of you…"

"_S-mall…cute…lovely and innocent…C-crap, L is exactly what this jerk wants…"_

Raito was getting a little fidgety when he heard Mikami murmur.

"Haaah…if only there was a living doll that could actually talk…"

"_S-strike one!"_

"And on top of that, she was completely in love with me.."

"_Steee-rike two!"_

"And if somehow, we were connected with each other, I wouldn't ask for anything else"

"_Strike three, yer out!"_

Raito knew for sure that his uneasiness was a bad sign. It's not good if he somehow discovers L, for purely different reasons. For all he knew, this weirdo might use all means to separate him from his right hand, even if he had to use a chain saw…

No matter what, he had to protect this puppet sized man at all costs.

"Raito-kun, Raito-kun", L said, oblivious to what was going on.

"L the cop, you're under arrest!" L did not seem to listen to their conversation and went ahead and wore a policeman uniform.

"Y-you idiot! Don't let him hear you!" he pinched the man's cheek to put some sense into him.

"Did you say something, Yagami-kun?"

Too late, he already heard.

"Oh, come on, you don't have any reason to hide anything from me now, right? We're comrades, right?" Mikami started. "Are you hiding something? It wouldn't happen to be your favorite figurine, right?"

'_D-dead on!'_

Raito was visibly sweating.

"Hey, why don't you show me? I won't tell anyone...partner?" the dangerous man was slowly advancing on him, eyes sparking brightly that Raito knew it was a bad thing. "Come on and show it to sensei…"

"CHOP!"

The older man obviously wasn't a match to Raito's strength when the teen reflexively hit his sensei with a side-hand chop to the neck. Mikami fainted on the spot, nose bleeding as he fell limply on the ground.

Raito was panting heavily when he realized that every otaku in the store was staring at him in. He really had no choice but to….

"What, you want a piece of this too?" he shouted as he attacked the other otaku geeks out of the store.

"Waaaahhh! The thug's gone beserk!"

* * *

"In the end, we didn't get to buy anything", Raito sighed as he stared at the only thing he managed to cook with the low supply of food in the fridge (he didn't get to shop any groceries, either), omelette. "I'm really sorry for this"

"It's okay, Raito-kun", L said nonchalantly as he continued sewing. "More than new clothes, I was more happy that you would even think of me…"

Raito smiled. At least his effort wasn't that wasted.

"By the way, what are you doing?"

"Oh…"L said, slightly going red. "I just thought that, after I witnessed what Raito did today, I should upgrade my shirt. See, what do you think?"

He showed Raito his new shirt, which now read, "I LOVE RAITO FOR LIFE"

Eye twitch.

"Y-you shouldn't have something that embarrassing proudly displayed on your shirt!"

"Hmmm….perhaps you like 'extreme' better?"

"Listen when people talk to you, dammit!"

"Raito-kun being embarrassed over this…I think this feeling is normal for a seventeen year old boy…"

"Arrrrghhhh"

CHAP END

* * *

Author notes:

Yappari - Japanese for "I thought so"; I know I should have just used the English phrase, but I figured using the Japanese would sound more otaku-ish. I mean, most otaku in my place do that...

Sensei - teacher. Yeah, I prefer using that since it sounds too soft when a thug comes out and just calls his prof teacher...ehh...

Otaku - in my place, the media is implying that being an otaku is cool, like being an anime fanboy or something...but actually in Japan, it has some bad connotations...just imagine them as nerds/geeks or the type of anime characters where a dark aura is often seen emanating from them, usually wearing thick glasses and stuff...

I think this chapter is a bit short. But I hope the quick update made up for it. Hope you guys would review!


	6. Something Important

**Right Hand Man**

**By:** Kaytee Kudo

**Category**: Death Note (but it's inspired by Midori no Hibi)

**Genre:** Humor, Crack, very subtle hints of LightxL

**Rating:** T

**Summary: **Light is a genius, but boredom causes him to become a delinquent, heart broken teenager, recently shot down by his 20th girl, and now wreaks havoc in the campus. Due to a curse by one of his schoolmates, he ends up one morning having a guy for a right hand…literally.

**Other Notes:** **:** Midori no Hibi inspired; AU (definitely); a little bit of shounen-ai, LxLight mostly, but it won't be that explicit, only the sweet stuff. I tweaked up L's character here because like the shy Midori becoming an outgoing, expressive right hand, L must follow suit and get with the story, the same with Raito becoming a delinquent. Besides, it would be too predictable if he stays like that. Beware of OOCness. You have been warned.

**Disclaimer:** I so do not own Death Note, nor Midori no Hibi.

**

* * *

**

Chapter Six

**Something Important**

"Aaahhh…we can finally have a decent meal for once." Raito said happily as he prepared the last touches of his dish. "See, this is what a proper meal looks like."

"Wow, Raito-kun can really cook. This looks delicious."

"Heh, of course. I'm used to cooking since my mom is a good cook too."

"And the preparations are top class, it's like eating in a five star restaurant" L mused as he looked at the tediously prepared dining table. He smiled at Raito.

This was honestly the first time he saw Raito cook. Usually, he would just eat outside or buy one of those instant ramen from the convenience store, so he wasn't aware that the boy was in fact a really good cook.

Seeing his eating habits like that, L was honestly worried that the boy wasn't getting enough nutrients required as a growing boy, so he made the attempt to cook breakfast the other day, even when he knew he pretty much never held a stove in his entire life. Needless to say, the whole affair just backfired on him, and it nearly burned the house down. It was actually a wasted effort, looking back at it, when he realized that this kid can actually cook.

They finally got the chance to shop at the groceries since Raito just got his monthly allowance, and it was also a lucky thing that the shop was on sale today, so Raito bought something nice today.

"I've gotta admit, it's been a while since I've cooked like this. You should count yourself lucky" Raito continued, smiling all the while.

"Indeed, Raito-kun. This is the first time I've seen you cook"

"Well, you know…"

Truthfully, ever since his family left for the States, he barely cooked at all, since there was no good reason to. He used to cook alongside his mother, and oftentimes due to his elite cooking skills, his mother would sometimes leave him to prepare for dinner. But now that he was alone, doing such a thing seemed like a waste of time, and he only did it on rare occasions such as when he was acknowledged as legendary by his friends my taking down some yakuza, and when he helped Matsuda bust some local criminals. Secretly, he was actually honing his skills so that he could for a girl he liked, or maybe for his girlfriend, so he is just as confused when he realized that he was cooking for a _man_, not a woman, who somehow almost burnt his house down. But anyway, it can just as well be a celebration because his house didn't get burned down.

"Itadakimasu!" he said cheerfully, and turned to L. "Well, what are you waiting for, start eating."

L, his eyes as wide as usual, was only looking at the food even when he complimented it earlier. He put his finger on his mouth.

"I only eat sweets, Raito-kun."

"Huh?"

Come to think of it, he never realized that whenever he eats, the puppet sized man would just stare at him, and considering that it has already been a week since he showed up, it would not have been possible for the man to survive.

"Well, how did you manage to survive for a week? I don't remember storing any sweet stuff here for as long as I can remember."

"I am sorry, Raito-kun, but I sometimes get some of your allowance and buy cake and sweets in the convenience store when you are in deep sleep, but I'm limiting it to just a cake a day."

"What the hell?" Raito shouted when he comprehended what the man was saying. "So it was actually you who spent the money that I thought would last for a couple more days, and also the reason why I always wake up feeling heavily bruised every day?"

"I'm sorry, Raito-kun, but I was hungry, and I…"

"Well, that's just great. You always fuss about my health and all the food I eat and yet you were actually doing the worst."

"B-but…sugar gives me energy and raises my deductive ability by forty percent"

"And so does normal food", Raito opposed. "Besides, you don't do detective work anymore. You ran from it, right? So you have to take responsibility for your actions and live the normal life you've ran away to, and eat like a normal person.:

L looked defeated by the boy's reprimands, and seeing that there was actually no reason not to, he had to give in, for the love of his life.

"Then, as long as this would make Raito-kun happy, I'll give it a try."

L closed his eyes tightly as he took a small piece of meat, chewing slowly.

"Well, how is it?", Raito asked expectantly.

"It is entirely different from candy, but if it is what Raito-kun wants, then I'll have to endure…"

"Hey!", Raito said indignantly. "I worked so hard for that to taste good."

"I guess that may be so for Raito-kun, but I've spent my life eating sweets, that I don't have a basis on what meat tastes like."

"Hmph. Just so you know, I cooked that carefully so that the flavors would lock in." Raito said as he took a bite as well. "Delicious."

While L was struggling to eat everything Raito put on his plate, the boy seemed to enjoy eating so much, that it was probably the first time L saw the boy enjoy eating like that, and he was glad that Raito was eating healthy food for once. But more than that, he was happy that the boy was actually concerned for his health. So even if he really hated food other than sweets, he had to put up a sacrifice and eat whatever Raito wanted him to eat. Besides, dragging Raito to buy in the stores unconsciously was finally weighing down on him.

Raito was up for a second helping when they heard the door bell.

"I think someone's at the door"

"Who cares? Just leave em. I'm still hungry" Raito said not minding the prospective visitor. "Anyway, hurry up and finish…"

"Oh, so you would just leave me outside while you have dinner? Nii-chan has become pretty cruel…"

"EHHH?"

"Sayu? What are you doing here?"

"I love you too, Nii-chan…" the girl said sweetly, while taking a seat in the dining table. "Wow, you cooked my favorite! I'm going to help myself, okay, Nii-chan?"

"Suit yourself" Raito said as he continued eating.

"By the way…" Sayu asked as she took one of the plates from the pantry. "Why did you cook this much? I was trying to surprise you by not telling…"

"I guess I just felt you'll be here."

"Nah, that's not it", Sayu rebutted, examining the house she left five years ago. "Oh, I know! Has Nii-chan finally found someone he would cook for?"

"N-no way! I just felt like cooking…"

"Haah! You're blushing!"

"I'm not…"

"Well, I'm just messing with you."

"Anyway, I thought you're being a good girl and staying in America?"

"Oh, please. I missed you and went out of my way to get here"

"That's a lie. Stop playing with me."

"Okay, okay. I followed my boyfriend here."

"B-boyfriend? But you're only fifteen? Why did Dad…"

"It's a normal thing in the States. Besides, Dad barely goes home anymore, that he didn't even notice that I already left…"

"Hey! You're going to make mom worried!"

"I asked for her permission, and I'll only be here for a week. Besides, it's Easter break there."

"I bet you didn't tell mom about your boyfriend…"

"Oh, she does know. She has ways to find out, you know her. It's only Dad and you who's clueless"

"Hey!"

"But I'll introduce you to him anyway, I mean, you were close back then…"

"Wha…"

"Long time no see, Raito-kun. Oh, well, since I'm already Sayu's boyfriend, Raito-niichan…"

A man well in his late twenties greeted, who had a large frame given his half-American roots.

"R-raye! What are you doing here? And why are you claiming to be my sister's boyfriend?"

"Ouch, that hurt, Raito-nii. I was even considering to let go of the past and become friends with you."

"No way in hell!"

"Nii-chan!" Sayu reprimanded. "I don't know why you two hate each other, but I really wish you'd be more civil. I love both Nii-chan and Raye, so I was hoping that they would get along together."

"Hmph. Whatever" Raito said. "Get a plate and have a seat"

"Thank you very much, Raito-nii."

"And stop calling me Raito-nii. You're older than me."

They started eating at least civilly, as Sayu had wished for a few minutes when Raye Penber, Raito's sworn enemy, spoke again.

"By the way, Raito. I noticed that you've been hiding your right hand from us all this time. What are you hiding from your back?"

"Ummm…nothing" Raito said defensively.

"Show me", Raye pressed on, as Raito continued hiding his hand from his back.

"No way"

"Show mee~~~"

"Nuh-uh"

"CHOP!"

From that similar move, L can roughly guess that the killer move Raito used on Mikami a day ago was learned from experiencing the actual one itself, and the teacher was probably this guy, who, if observed closely, would pretty much conclude was a former gangster himself years ago, and he was probably the leader.

"You're way too naïve, boy! You're one hundred years too early to mess with me!" He shouted triumphantly as he took his prize. "Now show me what you're hiding!"

He grabbed Raito's arm and looked ahead, until his eyes got big and nearly dropped L again to the already fainted Raito.

"Uhhh….hajimemashite?"

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

* * *

"Hmmm…"

Raito looked straight in Sayu's eyes, expecting whatever response she's going to say after he finished explaining his whole situation. All that's left is to see if his sister actually believed everything he said.

"I guess I understand the situation but still, it's unbelievable." Sayu finally said. "Still, I'm seeing Nii-chan like this, and he never lies to me, I guess these things are possible."

"Whatever you do, please just keep it a secret", Raito sighed in relief that at least his sister believed him, even though a while ago, he sounded like he was just uttering deep bullshit.

"Hey, L", Raye decided to butt in, now that the two siblings have settled the matter.

"Yes?"

"What exactly do you see in this moron?"

"What the…" was all Raito could say as Raye started tormenting him again. "This isn't the time to be asking that..."

"Well", L answered anyway. "Raito-kun is really strong and dependable, and he's compassionate and kind…those are just some things I like about him…"

L delivered this in a totally dreamy voice that just made it seem embarrassing for Raito.

"Ohoh~~I thought you're just some guy who has no taste! But he's really sweet after all, huh, Raito?

"Er…no he's not…"

"Ha! You're blushing!"

"I'm not, you idiot!"

"Just who are you calling an idiot?" at this point, Raye used one of his wrestling moves and pinned Raito to the ground, flat on the stomach as he sat on the poor teen's back and forced him to a headlock.

"Aaaahhh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" was all Raito could say as L watched Raye torture the love of his life.

The abuse only stopped when the door rang a second time and revealed a bunch of guys.

"Yo, Raye, it's been a while, we heard you were in town so all of us came to say hi."

"Hey, it's been a while, you bums!" Raye greeted the fifteen or so people who helped themselves inside. "What's up?"

"Raito-kun, do you know who those people are?"

"Those guys are from Raye's gang when he's still here."

"Hey, Raye, I thought you understand my situation…"

"Don't worry, I have it under control, bro. You can just stay in the other room with Sayu."

"I just hope you know what you're doing…"

* * *

"CHEEEERRRSSS!"

"Ahh, they started partying right away." L observed. "Penber-san seems to be a very friendly person. Since I am always alone, I am a bit jealous…"

"You've gotta be kidding. Those guys beat me up every time they had the chance to, I can't keep count anymore." Raito said as he continued eating. "Leave them alone."

"Ah, but Raye actually likes you, Nii-chan." Sayu defended. "He just wanted you to be strong and tried to teach you in any way possible. He's actually worried about you, that's why he took this job."

"Speaking of that, why is Penber-san here?" Raito asked. "This wouldn't happen to be related to dad's case, would it?"

"I'm also not sure about the details, but he told me that it's top secret. Perhaps he'll answer you if you ask him directly" Sayu said a little meekly. "It's the first time I've seen Raye have fun like that. Everything there just seems so serious. That's why I also took the opportunity to go here when I got the chance."

"Still no luck with the case, then?"

"They've been trying very hard to revive L. I heard from Dad that on one time, Watari even gathered all sorts of unconventional medical practitioners from all over the world just to revive him, but still no luck." Sayu narrated. "Then we've finally discovered that L was actually here, but we really couldn't tell it, I know Raye cares more about you than his superiors. You really shouldn't worry L."

"I am not" L said simply. "since I am with Raito-kun"

"Ah, so cute! You really love my brother that much…"

"Sayu!"

"All right, it's time for the main event! STUPID HUMAN TRICKS!"

The gang members looked hyped.

"Ah, they're going that far?" Raito commented.

"Okay, first up is Yasu!"

"Hell yeah! I'm going to swallow this goldfish whole!"

As weird as that may sound, he actually swallowed the poor goldfish, only to throw it up a second later.

"Ahh…it came back out…"

"Go home!" a slightly-drunk Raye shouted.

"Okay, next up is Shigeru! He's going to backdrop himself!"

"Third is Seguchi! He's going to bend his fingers at the first joint!"

"Looks like they're having fun…" L commented as they watched the guys do equally stupid tricks.

"Leave them alone, or the stupidity might rub off on you" Raito said as he nonchalantly drank tea.

"You morons!" Raye shouted as he slammed his beer can on the table. "Just what the hell were you guys doing while I was away? You think lame-ass routines count as entertainment?"

The gangsters looked embarrassed, as Raye made a very powerful speech. Spoken like a true gang leader.

"Okay, you wanna know what makes me laugh?" Raye continued, walking to where Raito and Sayu were. "Watch carefully guys…"

Caught unaware, Raito felt something powerful grab his right hand up in the air.

"This is what makes me laugh!" Raye said as he raised the puppet-sized L for his members to see.

'_Crap! We're busted!'_wasall that Raito could think of. '_Ah, that's right, this guy enjoys tormenting me the most…'_

At this rate, they would be the laughing stock of the whole town by tomorrow. He braced himself.

"What's this?" one of the guys asked, examining L. "Some kind of puppet?"

L didn't move a muscle.

"Are you a ventriloquist or something? This is kind of good…very realistic"

Raito realized that L was actually protecting him, and he was enduring all these things so that his secret will be safe.

'_L, for me, you would really do these things?'_

"Come to think of it, he looks pretty cute."

"I wonder what's underneath…"

The guy was about to pull L's shirt when Raito's other hand blocked him in time.

"Don't touch him." He said threateningly. "Get your filthy hands off her! This is something very important to me!"

They froze for half a second, until they realized who was threatening them.

"What was that? Who do you think you're talking to?" said one of the guys as he punched Raito in the face, and Raito punched back, along with a kick.

"Screw you, bastard!"

And so, the riot began.

Raye pulled his girlfriend away from the rumble.

"Let's go, we'll stay in my place."

"Eh, but, what about Nii-chan."

"Don't worry. I know he's a bit of a handful but, he has L to take care of him, so he'll be all right."

The couple left peacefully as the fight continued to get wild in the living room.

"That's right, and don't ever come back again, y'hear?"

Raito shouted as he slammed the door. That was the last person out. It was just Raye to pull that stunt into him.

"That guy is a total jerk" Raito said as he massaged his bruised face.

"But it was really fun, Raito-kun. He looked like a nice guy" L cheered him up.

He was simply happy to hear those words from Raito before.

'_Am I really something important to you'_

"Whatever, I'm tired. I'm going to rest." Raito carelessly laid down the futon and went to bed automatically. L just stared at him in his sleep.

"L?"

"What is it, Raito-kun?"

"You heard it too, right? They are on the move for you."

"I know, Raito-kun"

"Good"

Those were his last words as he dozed off for the night. But the truth is, L really didn't know what to do. He was suddenly pulled back to earth when he heard the news, and he was feeling uneasy the whole time.

"I don't know what I should do, Raito-kun. But I know what I want." L slid inside the covers and lay down near Raito's face, kissing him lightly.

"I don't ever want to leave your side"

**Chapter End**


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